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A Report on Mental Illnesses in Canada
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A Report on Mental Illnesses in Canada
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APPENDIX B A CALL FOR ACTION: BUILDING CONSENSUS FOR A NATIONAL PLAN ON MENTAL ILLNESS AND MENTAL HEALTH
Prepared by
The Canadian Alliance for Mental Illness and Mental Health
(CAMIMH)
Created in October 1998, the core purpose of the Canadian Alliance for Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) is to put mental illness and mental health on the national health and social policy agendas. It wishes to influence and advise on mental health policy at the national level as a unified voice of consumer, family, community and professional organizations. Its overriding commitment is to improving services and supports for persons facing mental illness and/or mental health obstacles, as well as to secure strategies that will enhance the potential for positive mental health among Canadians.
CAMIMH members are committed to working together to develop a strong national voice on mental illness and mental health in Canada and to bring other stakeholders to the table in generating ideas and consensus for a national vision and action plan for mental health and illness in Canada. Membership includes:
- Canadian Mental Health Association
- Canadian Psychiatric Association
- National Network for Mental Health
- Schizophrenia Society of Canada
- The Mood Disorder Society of Canada
The Federal/Provincial/Territorial Advisory Network on Mental Health (ANMH) provided financial assistance to CAMIMH for the development of "A Call for Action." However, the views expressed in the document are those of CAMIMH and do not necessarily represent those of the members of the ANMH.
A. Public Education and Awareness
| Goal A1: | Reduce the stigma associated with mental illnesses in Canadian society. |
| Goal A2: | Increase public knowledge and awareness about effective practices in the fields of mental illness and mental health. |
B. National Policy Framework
| Goal B1: | Legislative/Policy Initiatives - Ensure that the impact on mental illness and mental health is considered in the development and implementation of every federal policy and legislative initiative. |
| Goal B2: | National Guidelines, Benchmarks and Accountability - Establish and adopt national guidelines or benchmarks for key outcome areas of a desired mental health system and for mental health promotion. |
| Goal B3: | Integration and Collaboration - Develop collaborative and cooperative partnerships that will enhance systems of care and mental health promotion opportunities. |
| Goal B4: | Consumer and Family Participation - Strengthen consumer and family participation in national policy development affecting mental illness services and supports as well as mental health promotion. |
| Goal B5: | Promotion of Self-Help - The federal government recognizes consumer and family self-help as a significant and vital mental health resource. |
| Goal B6: | Innovative Models of Service Delivery - Encourage and facilitate the piloting, testing and dissemination of information about new and innovative models of delivering mental illness/health services based on effective practices. |
| Goal B7: | Human Resource - Develop a national mental illness and mental health human resource plan to the year 2005. |
C. Research
| Goal C1: | Establish and support a national research agenda. |
| Goal C2: | Establish and implement a public education and awareness strategy to support comprehensive and sufficient research funding and value research. |
| Goal C3: | Strengthen the voluntary fundraising sector so that it demonstrates a unified commitment and enhanced support for mental illness/health research. |
| Goal C4: | Increase the cadres of new mental illness and mental health researchers. |
| Goal C5: | Create a more supportive environment for Canadian researchers in mental illness and mental health research. |
| Goal C6: | Ensure that mental illness and mental health research informs policy development in all areas of health. |
| Goal C7: | Increase the involvement of consumers, other stakeholders and their organizations and the voluntary sector in the development, implementation and dissemination of the knowledge acquired through enhanced mental illness and mental health research. |
D. National Data/Information System
| Goal D1: | Create a national public1 health surveillance and reporting program in collaboration with other stakeholders, including the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (LCDC) [now called the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control of Health Canada]. |
- Mental health/mental illness
